In fall 2010, we read Howard London’s “The Culture of a Community College.”   London’s study takes place among working class white students at an urban community college and explores the impact of social class on student behaviors and aspirations.  Most participants in the group enjoyed London’s book and made various connections between London’s study and our own experiences teaching at KCC.  Throughout the term, we grappled with London’s use of “class” as a lens for understanding student culture and our reflections on the perceptions of “community college teaching” within the larger academic universe.  At the end of the term, faculty reported their gratitude at the opportunity to reflect with fellow faculty members about their experiences at the college and to “take an hour out of the week to just talk with colleagues.”  They also appreciated the diversity of opinions expressed throughout the term.

We look forward to moving forward in the spring with Lois Weis’ ethnography “Between Both Worlds: Black Students at a Community College,” which we believe will add to and enhance London’s analysis through her analysis of a more diverse sample and potentially more sophisticated use of “culture” as an analytic tool.